IFA: Sharp PC-Z1, the mini-netbook

At IFA, on the Sharp stand you can see and test the PC-Z1, a device that is somewhere between an evolved telephone and a netbook. It takes the touch screen and ARM processor from one and the keyboard and Ubuntu system from the other. An ideal tool for travellers… or not.


Closed, the PC-Z1 is quite impressive. You can easily hold it in one hand (22 cm across). It needs quite a wide wallet but is much more compact than an Eee-PC 701 for example: the Eee-PC 701 is 22.5x16.5x3 cm and weighs 900 grams, the Sharp Z1 is 16.2 x 10.9 x 2.5 cm and weighs just over 400 g. Between a smartphone with an HTC G1 type keyboard and a netbook, it is part of a new segment: “smartbooks”.


When you open it, you notice the inferior quality of the plastic, the grained effect much less flattering than the smooth exterior. The build looks approximate (in particular the edges of the keyboard). Next you clock the unusual disposition of the keyboard (of course it also has some Kanji and Kana keys as it’s a japanese device). The track device is above the keyboard, with an optical sensor for your finger, with two buttons on the left.

In principal, you use the touch screen for navigation but the use of a graphics interface designed for computers (Gnome, the OS being Ubuntu Linux) requires too much precision for this high resolution screen: 1024x600 pixels for a 5" (12.7 cm) screen, more than 230 dpi. The buttons for handling the windows or access to the Gnome menus are too fine and require the use of the optical tracking device.

And it leaves something to be desired. The index finger is too thin and when it moves a couple of millimetres you lose contact: you get better results with the thumb — the PC-Z1 can then be used as a games console, the right thumb on the optical track device, the left on the buttons — but it is still subject to errors such as maximising rather than closing the window…


You can navigate on the web with the PC-Z1: no doubt its primary function. Launching Firefox takes about ten seconds and navigation after that is far from rapid, certainly for any page with a lot of data, due no doubt to the limited performance of the Freescale i.MX515 processor, which is also a bit demanding in terms of energy consumption (battery life is given at 10 hours in spite of the fact that the battery is smaller than on a netbook).

In fact whatever you’re using the device for, you’ll have to be patient. The use of the shortcuts situated above the keyboard to launch applications is very slow and often you doubt you’ve actually done so successfully and try again. When you launch a more demanding application such as Open Office Writer, you need to wait around forty seconds.


Word processing on the PC-Z1 is a frustrating experience: the keyboard is, let’s say, slightly unusual. The keys are soft on contact, then pass a stiff point before fully going in: if you don’t get past the stiff point, the characters aren’t registered. No comparison to the suppleness of some of the laptop keyboards on the market.

Connectivity has been pared down ot the mere essentials: a USB, a mini-USB, a 3.5 mm stereo jack, a Micro SD card reader and the Wi-Fi 802.11b/g. This said, all the necessary is the there.

The Sharp PC-Z1 will be launched in Japan at the end of the month for around 300 pounds. Sharp are waiting to see how it's received in the land of the rising sun before envisaging import to Europe.

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